Abstract
State of the Art
Qigong is part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TMC) and aims to balance body and mind. The roots of Qigong lie in China, where Confucian and Daoist scholars (500-400 B.C.) noted that one must learn to balance and relax one’s thoughts and emotions to avoid illness (Yang, 1997). In the Western world, Qigong is best known for its slow and coordinated movements. According to TCM, these movements will help regulate one’s ‘qi’, or life energy, through the body to improve the health and harmony of mind and body. During the practice of Qigong, one’s breathing, attention and movement are aligned. As such, Qigong is sometimes considered Mindfulness in movement (although there are many important differences).
New perspectives / contributions
Qigong has many positive outcomes on health and wellness. In both patient groups and healthy individuals, Qigong has been shown to improve psychological well-being, quality of life, immune function, balance and related risk-factors, and bone density (Jahnke et al., 2010). As such, Qigong offers a validated way to reduce the physical and mental activation that results from a person's work. While recent research has demonstrated how important it is to take short breaks at work, there is still little attention for Qigong exercises as a means to recover at work.
Practical Implications
In this presentation, we will explain and practice several Qigong exercises. These movements can be used at work (and at home) to recover from (hormonal) activation, ‘empty’ one’s head, and restore the body-mind balance.
Qigong is part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TMC) and aims to balance body and mind. The roots of Qigong lie in China, where Confucian and Daoist scholars (500-400 B.C.) noted that one must learn to balance and relax one’s thoughts and emotions to avoid illness (Yang, 1997). In the Western world, Qigong is best known for its slow and coordinated movements. According to TCM, these movements will help regulate one’s ‘qi’, or life energy, through the body to improve the health and harmony of mind and body. During the practice of Qigong, one’s breathing, attention and movement are aligned. As such, Qigong is sometimes considered Mindfulness in movement (although there are many important differences).
New perspectives / contributions
Qigong has many positive outcomes on health and wellness. In both patient groups and healthy individuals, Qigong has been shown to improve psychological well-being, quality of life, immune function, balance and related risk-factors, and bone density (Jahnke et al., 2010). As such, Qigong offers a validated way to reduce the physical and mental activation that results from a person's work. While recent research has demonstrated how important it is to take short breaks at work, there is still little attention for Qigong exercises as a means to recover at work.
Practical Implications
In this presentation, we will explain and practice several Qigong exercises. These movements can be used at work (and at home) to recover from (hormonal) activation, ‘empty’ one’s head, and restore the body-mind balance.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | EAWOP 19th Eawop Congress 29th May - 1st June 2019 Turin, Italy |
| Subtitle of host publication | Working for the greater good |
| Pages | 720-721 |
| Number of pages | 2 |
| Publication status | Published - May 2019 |
| Event | 19th EAWOP Congress: Working for the greater good: Inspiring people, designing jobs and leading organizations for a more inclusive society - Lingotto Conference Centre, Turin, Italy Duration: 29 May 2019 → 1 Jun 2019 Conference number: 19 https://eawop2019.org/ |
Conference
| Conference | 19th EAWOP Congress |
|---|---|
| Abbreviated title | EAWOP 2019 |
| Country/Territory | Italy |
| City | Turin |
| Period | 29/05/19 → 1/06/19 |
| Internet address |
Keywords
- Qigong, recovery, homeostasis, employee well-being